To adopt or buy?

[Petite]

Originally Posted by Ria P

I think hamsters are underpriced at £10 in the pet shops. They should cost three times as much then people may give them more thought before purchasing one and not just see them as a cheap toy for the kids. Rant over. Sorry.

Yes, Ria, I agree with this. I bought my winter white dwarf for around £7.60 earlier this year from our only pet shop (no breeders or adoption centres anywhere near), but I would happily have paid plenty more for her (and have done in terms of supplies, toys, cages, carriers, vet bills, et al).

I don't think all pet shop hamsters are irresponsible, nor are those who buy from them. Our local pet shop only buys in female dwarves, to stem the problems of irresponsible breeding.

When I bought my Theo at 15 weeks old, I was initially disappointed to see that she had been thus far kept in a smallish glass tank with no wheel, but she did not look unhappy, had clean bedding and water, and did not seem stressed or unwell in any way. I also think pet shops are starting to be more careful about where their hamsters go - for the first time, this time, I had to give my name and address. Eight months on, Theo is part of the family, much-loved by all.

There will always be questions about sources. We can only do the best we can by looking after those that we give homes to, wherever they come from.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

Totally get you Ria, but then sadly, I think more people would start breading their own hamsters as they could make more money.

That's true Luna. Never thought of that.

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by Petite

There will always be questions about sources. We can only do the best we can by looking after those that we give homes to, wherever they come from.

Ultimately, we all at least on the forum have our hearts in the right place. We want these wonderful companions to be treated fairly and humanely, and that's absolutely something we need to work more towards.

However, another alternative possibility is that when you make a previously common pet so impossible to obtain you might find that people end up going through even more questionable sources. We don't want people to go through the even less regulated and most often far less ethical alternative markets such as flea markets and similar highly questionable sources where there are already various animal species being sold, nor do we necessarily want the potential backyard breeders that could show up even more. I don't think we've seen the "if you don't adopt you're killing an (insert pet here)!" sort of talk on the forum, and I really hope we never do.

I think we should look more at the bigger picture and consider all the factors rather than jump to the typical "pet shop = bad" conclusion. As others have mentioned, sometimes there are good local pet shops. Some local pet shops are horrifyingly terrible and some are great. Some individual chain pet stores may be operated better than others, which can also be a deciding factor if you chose to go in that direction.

I can say that while I'm lucky to have a pretty good(not perfect as far as some species care goes)local pet shop. I also have a horrible local pet shop I would never even dream of supporting in any possible way, but the good pet shop I would absolutely get pets from(they do best in the reptile department though as that seems to be their specialty, which they often breed their own reptiles and have for quite a while now, possibly even breeding all of them but I'm not 100% sure). In fact, the good local pet shop is one of the very few sources I could go to for certain small pets(hedgehogs, sugar gliders, and degus as some examples)which would require finding a local breeder that may or may not even be possible to find or travel to.

I also happen to have one of the less awful chain pet stores(on an individual basis)locally, but I've heard other horror stories about the same chain pet store probably due to individual location bad management and such. My Syrian did come from a chain pet store, and even if she had a fairly short lifespan(not necessarily due to bad genetics as one can't be too sure) I can't say I have ever or would ever regret having purchased her from a chain pet store. I don't think I would buy another hamster from the same location as I've seen some very questionable practices there though, since I have better options.

[EmmaAndChester]

It's an unfortunate reality that buying from pet stores supports pet mills. While yes, you may be 'saving' that one hamster you buy from a potentially bad life, that hamster is going to be replaced by another - all because you bought it.

If you truly want these horrible mills to cease existing, you need to stop looking at the poor little hamsters in the pet shop and thinking about where theyre going to end up. As an animal lover, I can absolutely see how hard that it is to do, but it is the only way those mills will go out of business. We need to focus on the bigger picture here; one hamster may get saved, but many others will take their place. Reality is; you aren't really saving them - but instead are fuelling the industry that is responsible for them being in that horrible situation to begin with.

I will never shame anyone for where they source to get their hamsters, as that is a moral decision that falls on you. but we must not be ignorant as to what we are supporting if we choose to buy a hamster from a pet shop. If you are truly against pet mills, and really want to make a difference, supporting rescues instead of pet shops is the way to do it. Think about if they were puppies, and you knew they were from pet mills - would you still buy one, knowing that your money is going to a horrific industry built off of the pain & suffering of defenceless animals?

Nobody believes that buying puppies from pet stores is saving them. Everyone knows that it just allows that horrific industry to thrive even more. But yet, many have a kind of wilful & blissful ignorance when it comes to small animals like hamsters, or rabbits - yet they come from the exact same horrible place, that only exists to begin with because people give them money. I dont buy animals from pet stores, and its not because i dont believe that every animal doesn't deserve a loving home regardless of where they come from. I dont buy animals from pet storesbecause i believe that no animal deserves to be treated so horrifically as these mills treat them, and i refuse to support it. It is very unfortunate that some animals have to suffer at the expense of others in the meantime - but that is the reality of the situation and if you genuinely want it to stop, the only way it will stop is through a complete boycott of the purchasing of live animals from pet stores.

[Vierville]

Originally Posted by Ria P

I'd say a hamster advertised in the small ads and going free or something silly like £1 because there's a chance they could end up as live food for a pet snake, especially young hamsters.

I think hamsters are underpriced at £10 in the pet shops. They should cost three times as much then people may give them more thought before purchasing one and not just see them as a cheap toy for the kids. Rant over. Sorry.

Sadly in South Africa, hamsters are sold in pet shops for as little as the equivalent of £2,50 and in many shops the deal is 'buy a cage (ANY cage) and get a hamster free'.

Absolutely awful situation. Obviously, some probably go to wonderful homes where they are loved and looked after properly but it upsets me so much to think of how many do not...

[Vierville]

Originally Posted by Petite

Our local pet shop only buys in female dwarves, to stem the problems of irresponsible breeding.

...which begs the question...what do they do with the males that the petshops won't buy?

[stan]

I know that there are lots of videos about terrible rodent mills in America. Are the rodent mills in the UK as bad? I've been searching, but can't find much information. The only thing I have come across is this: https://www.petbusinessworld.co.uk/n...reeding-centre
It looks nothing like the US rodent mills, and still mass produces (2000 Syrian hamsters per week quoted).

All hamsters I have owned have come from my local P@H. They were pretty knowledgable, and when buying my second I was even recommended by the member of staff that the small cages were only suitable as starter cages for taming baby hamsters. They then stated the 70 x 40 and 80 x 50 basics that are generally recommended in the UK.

I do suspect the person recommending the bigger cage wasn't typical of all staff members though.

[sushi_78]

Originally Posted by stan

I know that there are lots of videos about terrible rodent mills in America. Are the rodent mills in the UK as bad? I've been searching, but can't find much information. The only thing I have come across is this: https://www.petbusinessworld.co.uk/n...reeding-centre
It looks nothing like the US rodent mills, and still mass produces (2000 Syrian hamsters per week quoted).

All hamsters I have owned have come from my local P@H. They were pretty knowledgable, and when buying my second I was even recommended by the member of staff that the small cages were only suitable as starter cages for taming baby hamsters. They then stated the 70 x 40 and 80 x 50 basics that are generally recommended in the UK.

I do suspect the person recommending the bigger cage wasn't typical of all staff members though.

Essex Breeding Centre is the main breeding facility in the UK, so I think it's likely that's where the animals are from. Based on the pictures and descriptions in the article you linked, it doesn't look bad at all.

I have bought gerbils and, most recently, a hamster (via the Adoption Centre), from Pets at Home and they have always been in perfect health and reasonably tame. The only issue I've had is that all the gerbils have had stereotypic behaviours which can be very easily prevented by small adjustments in how they are raised.

Based on this, I don't have any particular moral issues with buying from Pets at Home. Yes, their display tanks are small, but most animals don't spend more than a few days in them. I wish they sold better and bigger cages, but I suspect that they will once the demand is great enough. People who are aware of modern hamster care recommendations are less likely to be buying animals from pet shops, so there's really no reason for the pet shops to change what they are selling. Pets at Home don't make profit on the animals they sell, only on the cages and other items, so maybe if more people bought hamsters from them, but went elsewhere for the cages, they would start selling better cages?

[RodentRascalsAdventures]

Hello!! I first just want to say how I admire people like you who can control themselves quite well in certain situations. I myself do not always have that ability. So adopt or "buy"? I am a member of Peta, and one of the things Peta likes to promote is to adopt pets not "buy" pets; however, in my mind when you "purchase" an animal from a pet store you technically are adopting them because you are bringing them into your home to give them a better life, and if you don't "purchase" a pet from a pet store that pet might not get the luxury of living in the great home you could offer them or they might forever live in the pet store. Sadly, I don't think pet stores provide veterinarian help to their pets when illnesses may occur as you would. So while I feel horrible for the pet who end up at the shelters I feel equally bad for those living in pet stores. I have gotten some of my pets from my local shelter and some from pet stores. I always just go by how I feel when I see them or if I end up coming across an animal who speaks to me then I spontaneously take them home with me. My Hamster Lincoln was from a pet store. One night my daughter and I visited this particular pet store and we saw Lincoln being all cute, before we leave we always say bye to all the animals, but when we went to say bye to Lincoln one of the workers was holding Lincoln and she kind of shooed us away, and I overheard the workers saying something about Lincoln's belly in such an unkind and unconcerned manner, which made me worry about this poor little guy because the manager lady sounded as if she would "get rid of" Lincoln if they were correct in their thinking of what was wrong with him. The next week we were nearby so we stopped back in the pet store to see if Lincoln was still there because I was just so worried that they did something terrible to him. At first I did not see him in his cage, my daughter asked one of the workers if there were any Hammies in his cage, so the one worker lifted the hut up for us to see that there was someone in the cage, and to my surprise it was Lincoln, so as our eyes met I knew I had to rescue him from the pet store. I might have "purchased" him but I still rescued him, so to me even though I "bought" him I still adopted him, and had I not he might have been killed there, which would have been horrible, and I could not live with myself had I not done something to help him. It did not matter to me if he had something wrong with him because I was determined to provide him with the proper care he deserved, but thankfully Lincoln has been happy and healthy!! He is a TeddyBear Hamster, so I think they confused the poo stuck to his tummy for a lump because sometimes Lincoln gets poo stuck to his fur and the pet shop workers are not too knowledgeable about such things. Anyway, I just think all animals deserve to live in a comfortable home, and no animal should be stuck in a shelter nor a pet shop...

[Vierville]

I have been in touch with two local rescue organisations and both have little hammies available so I think i am going to go that route.

One organisation has some that were surrendered from a pet shop, the other an unwanted litter from a mother dwarf hamster.